Overview

The Vaccine Research Group at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, works to improve the health of people around the world by addressing challenges posed by infectious diseases and bioterrorism through clinical, laboratory and epidemiologic vaccine research. Founded in 1989, the group is led by Gregory A. Poland, M.D., founder; Richard B. Kennedy, Ph.D.; and Inna G. Ovsyannikova, Ph.D.

The group conducts National Institutes of Health-funded research investigating the immunogenetics and systems biology of vaccine response and performs research related to novel vaccines and adjuvants in adults and children. The Vaccine Research Group uses immunological testing, including:

  • Serology, cell-mediated immunity, cell culture and cytokine assays.
  • Polymerase chain reaction techniques, single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping and human leukocyte antigen typing for immunogenetic studies.
  • High-throughput assays, such as next-generation sequencing, transcriptomics, epigenetics and proteomic analysis.